Qasatim Saba'im (Sabean Archers)
|-|EB1= |-|EB2= EB1: Sabaean archers are a common sight in Sabaean garrisons and large armies. EB2: Archery is a wide spread skill within Arabia. Even the common Sabaean mastered the bow, a deadly weapon in light armour desert warfare. While they can be deadly at a distance, they remain ineffective at mêlée. Description Sabaean archers are a common sight in Sabaean garrisons and large armies. Even though archery is not frowned upon, these men are drawn from the lower urban classes and from the agriculturalists in times of war. They carry nothing but their own clothes and bows to war in addition to a small shield and dagger should they be caught in melee, which any general should try to avoid. Sabaean archers are not renown for their archery even though it is a part of Sabaean life be it a noble or a peasant one, so they should only be counted on to weaken the enemies, not to severely reduce their numbers like the Syrian and Iranian archers can be capable off. Historically, hunting with bows was a popular sport among the Sabaean nobility and a fact of life among the peasantry. With the advent of large scale defensive fortifications in the eight century BC the use of bow as a defensive weapon probably became fairly common in southern Arabia. Sabaeans though seems not to have had a reputation as good bowmen and archers were most probably used to simply bolster an army’s numbers or for defending walls. ---- Archery in Arabia has a long tradition and is a widespread skill among the Bedouins and the farmers. It has been the basic weapon for both the common man and the elite warrior since the ancient wars against the Assyrians. While horse archers may be the summum of the Arabian missile units, each man is proficient and deadly with the bow. Due to intense contact with the civilizations of Mesopotamia the peoples of Arabia were quick to adopt the superior recurve bow. These archers however have rarely seen battle and few experienced raids. Armed with little more than a knife and without any armour they are not fit for mêlée. However their arrows are a deadly counter to most of the light troops who roam the Arabian desert, where they are most fit to perform themselves. Historically, the northern nomads first enter history in the records of the Assyrians in which they both appear as tribute paying allies and adversaries. The most important tribe of the period, the Qedar, were responsible for sending a large number of troops to join the allied forces which eventually crushed the Assyrian empire. In these first battles they featured mainly as archers. Assyrian friezes especially show their most iconic missile unit: the camel archer. Intense contact with the Mesopotamian cultures helped to develop their archery skills and technology and kept it on par with those of the great archers of Persia, with whom they had friendly relations. Yet even in the heydays of the Neo-Assyrian empire the Sabaean kingdom already used their archery skill with great success on the battlefield. Karib 'il Watar, who claims to never have lost a single battle, tells of his conquests in his famous inscriptions at the great temple of Sirwah. Here he speaks of both numerous warriors and archers. This great local tradition and the influence of their neighbours would secure a vital role for archery in the warfare of the Sayhad cultures. The Sabaean army consisted out of five main elements: the communes mansha', the urban levies qadub, Arab and Bedouin mercenaries 'ashab, professional soldiers or khamis and in the late period a small mounted force: 'afrs. These men belong to the first group and existed mostly out of lower ranked freemen and the unfree, who owned loyalty and service to the local tribal lords or qayls. Every Qayl of the Sabaean federation however had the same duty to the malk of Saba'. Usage Good archers with a cheap cost. These men are good archers able to rain arrows upon their enemies. However, as other archers outclass this archer in both range and attack damage, these men make excellent garrison archers to defend settlements. As with most archers, they will not last in any melee combat. Category:Units Category:Eleutheroi Category:Saba Category:Nabatu